1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to portable supporting devices or stands for items such as hand-held phones, photographs and cameras.
2. The Prior Art
Support stands for personal items such as cameras and portable communications devices are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,162,696 to Sprung discloses a deformable camera case which can be converted to a camera stand. The case contains loosely arranged balls in a space between an inner and outer wall to enable the case, when opened, to support the camera at a desired orientation on variously contoured surfaces. However, the case is not constructed to support items other than the camera for which it is intended. U.S. Patent Publication 2006/0165230 A1 to Parr discloses a shoe-shaped holder for a portable communications device (cell phone or cordless handset), the heel section including an opening for the lower portion of the communications device and the toe section intended to support the upper portion of the communications device. The toe section contains beads or beans within a pliable material layer to provide a generally spherical shape that is accommodating to communication devices of differing sizes and angles of inclination. However, this holder cannot hold an item whose width exceeds the opening provided in its heel section.
I have invented a shapeable support stand which is capable of holding items of various types and sizes, which have widths that are wider than the support stand itself, and which can adapt to both even and uneven underlying surfaces.